Thursday, May 23, 2013

Mrs. Vertrees Young's recipe for partridge pie

This recipe comes from the Covered Wagon Cookbook, a staplebound booklet published in Louisiana by the Washington Parish Fair Historical Society in 1959.

The president of the society was Mr. Vertress Young, who provided a number of recipes featured in the booklet. In the introduction, she writes:
"We, hereby, dedicate this little booklet of Old Fashioned Recipes to our loved ones, who came across our Country in covered wagons, bringing with them their Mother's Mother's recipes for good cooking. A great factor in making pioneer life happy and making modern living happy is good food."
Here is one of those recipes...

Partridge pie
  • 12 doves (partridges)
  • 1 bunch minced parsley
  • 1 onion chopped fine
  • 3 whole cloves
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 pound salt pork diced
  • 2 tbsp. browned flour
  • 1 pint diced potatoes
  • Butter — size of an egg
  • Rich pie crust

Split birds in half — put in saucepan with 2 quarts of water, when it boils, skim off all scum that rises, then add salt and pepper, parsley, onion, cloves and salt pork. Let all boil until tender, using care that there be enough water to cover birds, thicken with flour and let boil up. Stir in butter, remove from fire and cool. Line sides of buttered pudding dish with crust. Lay in birds, then some potatoes, then birds and so on until the dish is full. Pour over the gravy. Put on the top crust with a split cut in center and bake in hot oven 15 or 20 minutes.

* * *

Other recipes in the booklet include Preacher Custard; Aunt Lillie's Fried, Battered Okra; Great-Great Grandmother's Whole Artichoke Pickle; Eierroehrli; Hopping John; Likker Pudding; and Otranto Pine Bark Stew.

If any of those intrigue you, let me know and I'll include them in a future post.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Surely, anyone who was a kid from 1975-1985 remembers these1

These two items are featured in the 1977 Matchbox catalog.

First up is the Collectors Carry Case, the top-of-the line luggage for you car collection. These were for the truly cool kids in the neighborhood. Remember, though: Models are not included!



And then there was the Matchbox Garage, complete with Shell branding. It was essentially the next step up for older boys who had to grow up and leave the awesome Fisher Price Garage behind.



(Let's admit it, though. The Matchbox garage was cool. But you forever longed to get your Fisher Price Garage back from your younger sibling.)

Footnotes
1. I'm sorry. I'll stop calling you Shirley.
2. Sarah, now 13, is still a big fan of Matchbox cars. My wife wrote about the toys that have had a lasting impact for her on Our School at Home.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

1945 ink blotter for mayoral candidate Charles F. "Jeff" Sullivan

Today is the day of the municipal primaries in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.1 So I thought this would be an appropriate piece of ephemera to highlight. It's a 1945 ink blotter touting Charles F. "Jeff" Sullivan's second bid to be elected mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.2



His campaign was successful, and Sullivan served as Worcester's mayor from 1946 to 1949. During his time in office, he helped to develop the city's airport, had the streets blacktopped, and reorganized the pension system.

He went on to become the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

But around 1953, according to Wikipedia, "Sullivan retired from politics and opened up a liquor store."

So there.

I guess that truly made him "A Man of the People and for the People..."

Footnotes
1. It is also, more importantly, my eighth wedding anniversary! Joan and I will be taking a short, mid-week trip to celebrate. Because I'll be out of town, this is the first in a series of quickie posts I finished in advance. So that you can still get your daily ephemera fix.
2. How do you pronounce Worcester? This College of the Holy Cross page is here to help.